Molded plastic compact with mirror member

ABSTRACT

A compact for holding a cosmetic product, said compact including a molded plastic case having a cover which is provided with an opening of appreciable expanse. The cover is molded with a sloped, outwardly-facing thin-walled yieldable shoulder which extends along the inside of inner edge portions of the opening so as to engage marginal portions of a mirror member which is disposed in the cover opening. The thin-walled shoulder positions of the mirror member, and can yield inward slightly in response to inward force applied to the member. This force is exerted by an ornamental cover plate that is also disposed in the opening of the cover and against the outside of the mirror member, being secured to the cover by a sonic welding operation. During such operation the mirror member is tightly clamped against the positioning shoulder of the cover, which yields slightly as a consequence of the assembly operation. By the above construction, all looseness of the mirror member is prevented, as well as the likelihood of breaking or damage to the latter.

United States Patent 1191 Hayes et al.

1451 Dec.4, 1973 MOLDED PLASTIC COMPACT WITH MIRROR MEMBER [75]Inventors: Thomas A. Hayes, Westport, Conn.;

Theodore R. Krause, Ridgewood, NJ.

[73] Assignee: VCA Corporation, Greenwich,

Conn.

[22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 237,118

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1956 Momingstar et a1132/83 R 7 1970 Manowitz 350/295 Primary Examiner-Louis G. ManceneAssistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeil] Att0rney-I-l. Gibner Lehmann andK. Gibner Lehmann [5 7 ABSTRACT A compact for holding a cosmeticproduct, said compact including a molded plastic case having a coverwhich is provided with an opening of appreciable expanse. The cover ismolded with a sloped, outwardlyfacing thin-walled yieldable shoulderwhich extends along the inside of inner edge portions of the opening soas to engage marginal portions of a mirror member which is disposed inthe cover opening. The thinwalled shoulder positions of the mirrormember, and can yield inward slightly in response to inward forceapplied to the member. This force is exerted by an ornamental coverplate that is also disposed in the opening of the cover and against theoutside of the mirror 1 member, being secured to the cover by a sonicwelding operation. During such operation the mirror member is tightlyclamped against the positioning shoulder of the cover, which yieldsslightly as a consequence of the assembly operation. By the aboveconstruction, all looseness of the mirror member is prevented, as wellas the likelihood of breaking or damage to the latter.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures MOLDED PLASTIC COMPACT WITH MIRROR MEMBERBACKGROUND This invention relates to molded plastic compacts for holdingcosmetic products such as face powder, rouge, and the like, and moreparticularly to compacts wherein a separate mirror piece or member isembodied in the construction.

I-Ieretofore numerous types of compacts, both molded and metal, havebeen proposed and produced, wherein separate mirror members have beenincorporated. In many cases the mirror members of such compacts havebeen loosely held, or else work loose after a period of use. This notonly represents an annoyance to the user, but it also enables the powderor other contents of the compact to get in back of themirror, sometimesimpairing the reflecting qualities thereof and in any circumstanceconstituting a somewhat messy condition in that loose particles can fallout onto garments or other surfaces, causing a marring of the same.Further, looseness of the mirror member results in a greater likelihoodof breakage of the same, particularly if the compact should beinadvertently dropped.

SUMMARY The above drawbacks and disadvantages of prior compacts havingmirror members incorporated in them are ovbiated by the presentinvention, which has for its main object the provision of an improvedmolded plastic compact incorporating a separate mirror member, whereinthe latter is especially firmly held and supported against looseness,rattling and the like, and is also mounted in a manner to minimize thelikelihood of breakage in the event that the compact should beinadvertently dropped or jarred. A related object of the invention is toprovide an improved molded plastic compact with mirror member as abovecharacterized, which is especially simple in its construction andeconomical to mold and assemble whereby the fabricating cost is held toan absolute minimum while at the same time resulting in a product ofespecially high quality. These objects are accomplished by providing amolded plastic case having a cover which encompasses an opening ofappreciable expanse, in which latter there is disposed a separate mirrormember. The cover has an outwardly-facing, thin-walled yieldableshoulder which extends along the inside of the opening and is adapted toengage marginal portions of the mirror member so as to constitute a stopand support for the latter. An ornamental cover plate is disposedagainst the outside of the mirror member, being constituted preferablyof plastic and being secured to the cover as by a sonicwelding operationto hold the mirror member firmly against the shoulder of the cover.During the assemblage of the mirror and cover plate to the cover, thethin-walled yieldable shoulder of the latter is stressed and slightlydeformed whereby it maintains the mirror member under continuous forceor pressure, thereby preventing any looseness of the latter. Moreover,the plastic cover plate constitutes a reinforcing backing for the mirrormember which, in conjunction with the uniform pressures applied tomarginal portions of the member minimize the likelihood of breakage ofthe mirror should the compact be inadvertently dropped, severely jarred,etc.

Still other features and advantages of the invention will hereinafterappear.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating one embodiment of theinvention:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the improved compact as provided by theinvention, with a portion of the ornamental top cover plate broken awayto reveal interior details.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a compact of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of an end portion ofthe compact, taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 1 and illustrating a step inthe securement of the mirror member and cover plate to the compactcover.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view like that of FIG. 4, but showingthe parts after completion of the assembly thereof.

Considering first FIGS. l3 the compact as shown therein comprises a baseor body portion designated generally by the numeral 10, said bodyportion having the form of a shallow, rectangular dished configurationwith a bottom wall 12, front and rear walls 14 and 16 respectively, andend walls 18. The rear wall 16 has an elongate, centralized hingetrunion 20 through which a hinge pin 22 extends and from the ends ofwhich it projects.

Hingedly secured to the body 10 is a top or cover member 24 having acentralized depending tab 26 provided with a rear horizontal indentationor groove 28 adapted to receive a forwardly projecting rib 30 providedon the front wall 14 of the body of the compact, thereby to constitute aclasp for releasably holding the cover in closed position.

As seen in FIG. 1, the cover 24 has a pair of widely spaced apart, hingetrunion portions 32 which straddle the central trunion portion 20 of thebody 10 and receive the end portions of the hinge pin 22 to effect ahinged connection between the body and the cover, all in the usualmanner.

The cover 24 has a sloping front wall 34 which is cut away or providedwith a horizontal finger-engageable groove 36. The groove 36 exposes orreveals upper shoulder surfaces 38 of the front wall 14 of the body 10which, when engaged by the fingers in conjunction with engagement of thefinger tab 26 enables the latter to be sprung outward and forced upwardin a known manner for opening the compact.

In accordance with the present invention the cover 24 is provided with acentralized opening 40 of appreciable expanse, said opening beingoutlined respec tively by front and rear inner edge portions 42, andside edge portions 44. Bordering the opening 40 is an upwardly facing,thin-walled yieldable shoulder portion 46 which extends along the insideof the inner edge portions 42 and is adapted to engage marginal portionsof a flat rectangular mirror member 48. By this invention the shoulder46 is adapted to yield inward or downward in response to force appliedto it by the mirror member 48. The cover 24 has an outwardly facinggroove 49 extending along the inside of the shoulder 46 whereby there iseffect a thinning of the shoulder wall and an increased yieldability ofthe shoulder. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shoulder 46 comprisesessentially a rib having opposite, substantially parallel sides 51 and53 the planes of which extend at an upward angle with respect to theplane of the mirror member 48.

Enclosing and covering the mirror member 48 is a cover plate 50 ofrectangular configuration, preferably provided with a bevelled edgesurface 52 and further having a sharp, depending sonic-weld bead 54adapted for engagement with the inner edge portions 42, 44 of the cover.Also, there is provided a continuous rectangular groove 56 in the edgeportions 42, 44, having a slightly larger outline than the sonic bead 54of the cover plate 50.

The cover plate 50 is preferably of thermoplastic substance, as is alsothe cover 24 of the compact. Referring to FIG. 4, for the purpose ofeffecting assembly of the parts, the mirror member 48 is first placed inthe opening 40 of the cover 24 so as to rest on the yieldable shoulder46 thereof. It will be noted that the top surface of the mirror 48 isslightly above the adjoining top surface of the inner edge portions 42,44 of the cover. The cover plate 50 is put in place with the sonic bead54 resting on the inner edge portions 42, 44, the plate being therebyspaced a slight distance from the top surface of the mirror 48. Aftersuchpositioning of the parts, a sonic welding operation is performedwhereby the sonic head 54 is melted, softened and merged with the inneredge portions 42, 44 of the cover 24. As this is accomplished, pressureis being applied to the cover plate 50 whereby it engages and forcesdownward the mirror 48, causing a yielding of the upwardly facingshoulder 46. The completed assembly is illustrated in FIG. 5, and willbe noted that the shoulder 44 is now slightly deformed and undercontinual pressure from the mirror 48, which in turn is being held inplace by the welded cover plate 50. As a consequence, all looseness ofthe mirror 48 is eliminated, and the mirror instead is firmly held andalso reinforced along its entire upper surface by the cover plate 50.

During use of the compact there will be no tendency for the mirror 48 tobecome loose, but instead it will be retained in a tightly clampedcondition as illustrated in FIG. 5. Moreover, an effective seal isestablished by such deformed shoulder 46 whereby loose particles ofpowder or dirt cannot work behind or around the mirror member 48 so asto impair the reflecting qualities thereof. Due to the firm, reinforcedmounting of the mirror member it will not be so likely to break or crackif the compact should be dropped or severely jarred.

The cover 24 has a bevel 60 bordering the opening 40 thereof, said bevelextending along the bevelled edge 52 of the cover plate and definingtherewith an exposed ornamental groove outlining the plate.

It will now be seen that by the above construction there is had anextremely simple yet quick and effective, economical mounting of amirror in the cover of a compact, at an extremely low cost. The coverplate 50 can have various ornamental surface markings so as toconstitute an ornamental top panel of the cover 24, while at the sametime serving to strongly reinforce the mirror member 48 and secure thelatter in the proper, desired position in the cover.

Variations and modifications are possible without departing from thespirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A compact for holding a cosmetic product,'comprising in combination:

a. a molded plastic case having a cover provided with an opening ofappreciable expanse,

b. said opening being outlined by inner edge portions of the cover,

0. a mirror member disposed in said opening of the cover,

d. said cover having an outwardly-facing, thin-walled yieldable shoulderextending along the inside of said inner edge portions to engagemarginal portions of said mirror member,

e. said shoulder comprising a thin wall which deforms and yields inwardin response to force applied to it by the mirror member, and

f. a cover plate disposed against the outside of the mirror member andsecured to the cover, forcing the mirror member against said shoulder,thereby deforming the latter so that the mirror is securely held againstlooseness.

2. A compact as in claim 1, wherein:

a. the cover has an outwardly extending rib disposed on said inner edgeportion and surrounding said shoulder,

b. said rib engaging edge portions of the cover plate and positioningthe latter in overlying relationship to and in engagement with saidmirror member.

3. A compact as in claim 2, wherein:

a. said cover plate has a bevelled outer edge,

b. said cover being a bevel bordering the opening thereof, said bevelextending along the bevelled edge of the cover plate and definingtherewith an exposed ornamental groove.

4. A compact as in claim 1, wherein:

a. the cover has an outwardly facing groove extending along the insideof said shoulder,

b. said groove effecting a thinning of the shoulder wall and anincreased yieldability of said shoulder.

5. A compact as in claim 4, wherein:

a. said thin wall being constituted as a rib having opposite,substantially parallel sides,

b. the planes of said sides extending at an upward angle with respect tothe plane of the mirror member.

1. A compact for holding a cosmetic product, comprising in combination:a. a molded plastic case having a cover provided with an opening ofappreciable expanse, b. said opening being outlined by inner edgeportions of the cover, c. a mirror member disposed in said opening ofthe cover, d. said cover having an outwardly-facing, thin-walledyieldable shoulder extending along the inside of said inner edgeportions to engage marginal portions of said mirror member, e. saidshoulder comprising a thin wall which deforms and yields inward inresponse to force applied to it by the mirror member, and f. a coverplate disposed against the outside of the mirror member and secured tothe cover, forcing the mirror member against said shouldEr, therebydeforming the latter so that the mirror is securely held againstlooseness.
 2. A compact as in claim 1, wherein: a. the cover has anoutwardly extending rib disposed on said inner edge portion andsurrounding said shoulder, b. said rib engaging edge portions of thecover plate and positioning the latter in overlying relationship to andin engagement with said mirror member.
 3. A compact as in claim 2,wherein: a. said cover plate has a bevelled outer edge, b. said coverbeing a bevel bordering the opening thereof, said bevel extending alongthe bevelled edge of the cover plate and defining therewith an exposedornamental groove.
 4. A compact as in claim 1, wherein: a. the cover hasan outwardly facing groove extending along the inside of said shoulder,b. said groove effecting a thinning of the shoulder wall and anincreased yieldability of said shoulder.
 5. A compact as in claim 4,wherein: a. said thin wall being constituted as a rib having opposite,substantially parallel sides, b. the planes of said sides extending atan upward angle with respect to the plane of the mirror member.